Hormone dependence in breast and prostate tumor cell lines

Knowledge about the role of sex hormones in the control of cell proliferation and cell-type specific protein synthesis is mainly collected by using cell culture techniques. The adoption of cell culture models addressed at defining these issues is due to the uncomplicated assessment of reliable proliferation-related parameters. Established cell lines derived from estrogen and androgen sensitive tissues, have been used in proliferation studies for more than thirty years. The data gathered so far can be summarized in three following working hypotheses: the direct and indirect-positive hypotheses and the indirect-negative hypothesis. Further characterization and assessment of the hormone dependence of growth factors and growth inhibitors will allow for the mechanistic understanding of the regulation of cell proliferation by sex hormones.